CABINET PICKS

Wait! you say. Isn’t this about Mike Pence? What do the Cabinet posts have to do with him?

The answer to that is simple. Once Mr. Trump tossed Chris Christie overboard, he needed someone new to run his Transition Team. He picked his running mate and our new Vice President Elect, Mike Pence.

Mike Pence is in charge of the Transition Team. That means he is making decisions about who Mr. Trump sees. Who Mr. Trump thinks about. Who Mr. Trump considers for these very high level positions.

Behind all his decisions as Transition Team Captain is Mr. Pence’s ideology. His ideas. His core beliefs that LGBTQ people are mis-wired or just acting badly, sinfully even. Abominably. Then there’s his core belief that Christianity is a better religion than any other religion could ever be.

I am a Christian. But America is a multi-faith nation, and that “multi” includes “non” and “a” and “choose not to answer.” Everyone is welcome here, and we don’t get to say they are “less than” or “other” because they are not Christian. We don’t get to say that. We don’t get to think it.

Mike Pence’s choices for who should be considered as Cabinet officers should reflect a wide and open view of what America is, where it is going, and who is involved in it. So far we are seeing the usual stuff.

This we see so far. “Whiteness” determined by looking at pictures on Google Image. Religion divined by reading “Personal Life” sections on Wikipedia. It takes, as you see, very little effort to determine that Mike Pence and Donald Trump are erecting a Cabinet of the usual materials.

Sharon Hambrick grew up in Fundamentalist Christianity and still “defaults” Fundy much of the time, to her own consternation. A licensed California lawyer, mother of five, wife of one, writer, inveterate road-tripper, and burgeoning feminist Democrat, Sharon wept away November 9, but woke up on November 10 determined to do something. When the idea of a Pence Watch was presented to her, she eagerly hopped on board.